Stewartville Rape Suspect Caught in Iowa

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man wanted as a suspect in an area rape case has been apprehended. A spokesman for the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Department says 29-year-old Merwin Coleman was taken into custody in Waverly, Iowa on Wednesday and is expected to be returned to Rochester in the near future.

Coleman was named in an arrest warrant charging him with 1st-degree burglary and 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct after a Stewartville woman called 911 Sunday morning and accused him of sexually assaulting her. The investigative reports indicated she told detectives Coleman had given her boyfriend a ride to work while she was sleeping and then returned to the residence and raped her.

Before he left the area, Coleman spoke with investigators on the phone and claimed the sexual contact was consensual. He stated it occurred after he had given the woman some Xanax pills in exchange for sex.

Coleman was already facing charges in OImsted County in two recent domestic assault cases.

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